At Personnel Planners, we take a proactive approach to ensuring that our clients have a full understanding of how the unemployment system works. All new clients are eligible to receive a complimentary on-site or web-based training session within the first year of service. Further sessions can be provided based on need and per request. In the training sessions we educate HR personnel, department managers and other key players in best-practice methods for disciplining employees. By taking this proactive approach, our clients protect themselves from being charged on unwarranted claims.

Many of our smaller clients, for whom a single discharge can be overwhelmingly cost prohibitive, take advantage of our personal pre-termination phone calls and pre-termination document reviews. Since we are not attorneys, we cannot give legal advice, but our decades of experience with issues of misconduct allow us to identify termination patterns and recommend on how they should be addressed. Our pre-termination guidance has proven to be a proactively effective approach to controlling unemployment costs. We are always a phone call away.

Claims Processing

Often when businesses process claims in-house, they find that they have very little time to respond to state agencies due to the delay in snail mail and the tight deadlines imposed by the agencies. Additionally, for those not familiar with the terminology, claims can be quite confusing. Personnel Planners is integrated with the State Information Data Exchange System (SIDES), which means that our clients’ claims arrive in our system electronically as soon as the notice is sent from the state. Our clients are then notified by the assigned claims analyst immediately via email, fax and on the client portal, which allows them to provide information online. Once information has been provided, our experienced analysts take the information and contest the claim in the most effective way, by raising the appropriate sections of law, making factual arguments and detailing the events that led to the employee’s separation.

Hearing Preparation

If an employer wishes to present the best possible case at an unemployment hearing, preparation is key. At Personnel Planners, hearing preparation includes employer document review, timeliness review, witness selection, witness preparation and submission of documents to the referee, all done by a qualified hearing representative. Hearing representatives at Personnel Planners all hold postbaccalaureate ABA approved paralegal certificates. All of our paralegals have been trained thoroughly on how to prepare our clients for unemployment hearings and are able to provide pertinent information regarding hearing procedures, referee trends and the type of evidence that might turn a case in our clients’ favor. Our hearing representatives give every case the full attention it deserves.

icon-gavel Hearing Representation

Most states allow non-attorney employer representatives to participate in unemployment hearings by telephone. It is beneficial for an employer to be represented by a trained experienced representative at every unemployment hearing. Hearing representatives at Personnel Planners have all gone through ABA approved paralegal certificate programs and demanding on-the-job training. Our hearing representatives know exactly how to ensure that the employer’s side of the issue is clearly, accurately and fully submitted into the hearing record. At Personnel Planners, our goal is to make sure that our clients’ cases are presented well. We strive to make unemployment hearings as painless as possible by taking out the element of confrontation through thorough and effective representation.

Ruling Appeals

The unemployment system allows for several stages of adjudication through ruling appeals. At every stage, the state issues a ruling with a strict appeal deadline. At Personnel Planners, our philosophy is that it is generally best to appeal unfavorable rulings, especially early on in the process. This way we protect our clients’ rights to pursue cases to the extent that they feel is appropriate. Our appeal letters are all expertly written by our qualified representatives in compliance with state regulations.

Charge Auditing

In addition to contesting unwarranted claims, Personnel Planners audits the charge statements issued by state agencies for administrative errors. We compare the charge statements to the records in our system and challenge any charges that we believe should not be on the statement. A single successfully challenged charge can save our clients thousands of dollars. We are able to efficiently audit the charge statements using our comprehensive claim management system.

Record Maintenance

Our record keeping is both electronic and physical. Every item that comes to our office is scanned into our system for processing and is filed in a physical location. In many states we receive electronic claims directly into our system. Every document in our system is easily retrievable, so while we try to shield clients from the complexities of the unemployment system, we are happy to accommodate those who have a greater need for full transparency.

Online Reporting

The client portal is a great tool for tracking claims and for exchanging information with Personnel Planners. Clients interested in high transparency can see in real time the status of their claims and view reports on the performance of our service. The portal is also a destination for our clients to respond to requests for separation information and review hearing outcomes. Management groups and multi-entity corporations can view and compare their various business entities side by side. We are always looking for ways to improve our client portal and are happy to add features based on our clients’ requests.